FraudTalk is a blog focused on the review and discussion of recent significant cases of fraud, corruption and employee misconduct - particularly major embezzlement cases in the US. Fraud Talk is published by Chris Marquet, Chairman & CEO of Marquet International Ltd., an international investigations, litigation support and due diligence firm.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Washington State Man Arrested On Charges He Allegedly Embezzled $568K From Employer; Also Confessed To Embezzling As Much As $30K From Local HS Booster Club

Lonnie Gene King of Renton was arrested on Tuesday by Woodinville police officers and booked into the King County Correctional Facility in downtown Seattle on 30 counts of suspected theft from his employer, SportsArt of Woodinville.

According to King County Superior Court documents, King confessed to the embezzlement and to stealing up to $30,000 from a local high school booster club that is not identified.

The 49-year-old King is a self-described active Mormon church member and local sports booster. He posted a photo of himself with Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll on his Facebook page.

King County Sheriff’s Sgt. D.B. Gates told KIRO 7 that King, while working in the accounts receivable department at SportsArt, created a bogus company and bank account with a name similar enough to SportsArt that “he was able to take some of the checks that were coming in to the business and deposit them into the fake account.”

In a jail courtroom Wednesday, SportsArt employee Anne Devney told Judge Mark Chow that King replaced her when she left the company, but that she was recently re-hired to uncover King’s alleged theft. Devney asked Chow to set a high bail, arguing the amount King allegedly stole is enough to skip town with and “he’s licensed to carry a firearm, and we worry about that because he could take that against people at SportsArt.”

About the Author - Chris Marquet

Chris Marquet is President, Investigative Services with SunBlock Systems, an investigations, litigation support, computer forensics & cyber security firm. Chris has over 34 years of professional experience in industry with Marquet International and prior stints with Kroll Associates, Citigate Global Intelligence and Decision Strategies/Vance International.
Chris is the author of many articles and white papers, including the annual Marquet Report on Embezzlement as well as the Marquet Report on Ponzi Schemes. He has lectured extensively on subjects relating to employee misconduct; due diligence; business intelligence, internal investigations, fraud, employee integrity, workplace violence, kidnapping, terrorism, crisis management and travel security.
Chris is a Certified Board Advisor and Board Member for the Center for Strategic Business Integrity. He received an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College in 1983, with a triple major in Physics, Economics, and Philosophy.
He can be reached at cmarquet@sunblocksystems.com